Glory of the Morning

Glory of the Morning was the chieftess and progenitress of the Decorah Ho-Chunk Indian family. The dates of her birth and death are unknown.  She was the sister of a principal chief of the Ho-Chunk, whose village was on Doty Island where the cities of Neenah and Menasha now stand.

Around 1730 she became the wife of a young French trader, Sabrevoir De Carrie. They had three children. Some years later De Carrie rejoined the French army, taking their daughter with him.  Two sons, Spoon Decorah and the Buzzard, remained with their mother. De Carrie was mortally wounded in Quebec in 1760.

Glory of the Morning became a chieftess and ruled her tribe for many years. In 1766, she entertained Captain Jonathan Carver at her island village.

Spoon Decorah (ca.1730-  ca.1816)

Spoon Decorah was a Ho-Chunk chief and the eldest son of Glory of the Morning. He aided the British in the War of 1812. It was mainly through his influence that the Treaty of 1816 was brought about. He died at the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers.

Old Decorah (ca.1746 -- April 20, 1836)

Old Decorah was a Ho-Chunk chief and the eldest son of Spoon Decorah. Around 1793 he led his tribe from Lake Puckaway in Green Lake County and founded a village north of the Fox-Wisconsin portage.

In the War of 1812, he campaigned with the British in Ohio and at the Battle of the Thames. In 1825 he signed the First Treaty of Prairie du Chien on behalf of the Ho-Chunk.

One-Eyed Decorah (ca.1772 - August 1864)

One-Eyed Decorahwas a Ho-Chunk chief and the son of the Buzzard. Around 1787 he succeeded his father as chief of the La Crosse band of the Ho-Chunk. His village was on the Black River in Trempealeau County.

During the War of 1812, he campaigned with the British in the Wisconsin area. In the Black Hawk War he aided the American troops. At the end of the war he captured the Sauk chief, Black Hawk, and delivered him to the forces United States Army at Prairie du Chien.

Waukon Dechorah (ca.1780-1868)

Waukon Dechorah, was a Ho-Chunk chief and the youngest son of the Buzzard. He was the orator of the Ho-Chunk, whose village was about 60 miles north of Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River.

He aided the American army during the Black Hawk War but, in accordance with successive treaty provisions, he and his tribe were forced to move to northeastern Iowa and later to Long Prairie, Minnesota.

After 1855, Waukon lived in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. Two Iowa cities, Decorah and Waukon, bear his name.

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[Source: F. W. Hodge, ed., Handbook of Amer. Indians (2 vols., Washington, 1907-1910); Wis. Archeologist, o.s., 6; P. V. Lawson, et al., eds., Hist. of Winnebago Co. (2 vols., Chicago, 1908); C. Cole, I Am Man (Iowa City, 1938); Coils. State Hist. Soc. Wis., 3 (1857), 7 (1876); Madison Democrat, Feb. 21, 1912; M. M. Quaife, Wis. (4 vols., Chicago, 1924).Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]